Every once in a while I’ll be writing and think of two or three ways I could approach a paragraph.  Or Jeff is designing an image and ends up with several possible options.  Multiple iterations are a positive thing, but deciding which to run can be a difficult prospect.

I could conduct an old-fashioned poll, asking for votes by email or survey and select the winner.  I’d run the risk, however, of the best option being none of my proposed choices.

Backboard is a convenient way to gather opinions from your audience while learning more about what motivated each vote and getting further feedback on the concepts at play.  A straightforward poll will never produce: “combine the squiggle from this logo with the text from the other” or “I love the first paragraph of this draft and the last half of the other one”.  Backboard will, and your work will be better for opening discussion up to more than just A, B, or C.

Just press cancel the first time Backboard prompts you to share, upload each option as a different version on your Backboard, and give them unique names.  Then press the “invite reviewers” button when you’re ready to share with your audience.

Here’s an example.